Güdel gantry robots

Güdel gantry systems are claimed to expand users’ horizontal and vertical reach for a diverse range of materials handling requirements.

The systems require less floor space than floor-mounted robots while offering a high degree of safety and accuracy. Also known as Cartesian coordinate robots, gantry robots work from an overhead XYZ grid. The size of a gantry system varies; they can fit into a compact square or fill an entire warehouse. The company has supplied gantries up to 70 m long.

Gantry robots are a solution for materials handling applications because they can move items from one station to another with speed and accuracy. Their travelling abilities simplify any work space because one gantry robot can perform the work of two to three floor-mounted articulated robots.

The gantry robots offer maximum flexibility with up to 6° of freedom (3 cartesian and 3 rotary) and require a minimum of floor space compared with conventional robots.

The 3- or 4-axis gantries compete with 6-axis robots that are used in similar applications because they can perform the required functions with fewer axes and with higher accuracy. The gantry robot is more compact, stiffer and has a longer service life than a 6-axis robot. The rack and pinion drive systems used are suitable for very tough environments.

The gantry solution is stable and robust and due to the modular principle, the configuration of the axes can be customised and the dimensions can be adapted to suit the application. Additionally, the gantry robots make use of a drive and guideway concept that only Güdel offers as a one-stop solution.

Two more advantages of gantry systems are precision and programming. Because they work from a grid, gantry robots can be easily programmed to land at precise points. For this reason both CNC controls (such as Siemens 802D or 840D) or robot controllers can be used to control the gantry.

The industrial robots for automated handling can be used in a variety of ways such as assembly robots, overhead robots or for end-of-line robotic palletising solutions in conjunction with palletising robots or pick-and-place robots.